


The Better to See you With

by Trifoliate_undergrowth



Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Gen, Jurgen is there for like 2 seconds, flashfic, in which elias is creepily affable and gives jon a creepy DEFINITELY NOT CURSED!!! :) gift, precanon through season 2
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-03
Updated: 2020-09-03
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:14:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 807
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26260972
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Trifoliate_undergrowth/pseuds/Trifoliate_undergrowth
Summary: “Promotion gift,” said Elias, smiling in that way that made him look wise beyond his years. Jon wondered with irritation what the polite way to respond to this was, and somehow settled on“Ah. What is it?”Hm. Good thing he was already promoted.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 44





	The Better to See you With

“Promotion gift,” said Elias, smiling in that way that made him look wise beyond his years. Jon wondered with irritation what the polite way to respond to this was, and somehow settled on 

“Ah. What _is_ it?” 

Hm. Good thing he was already promoted. 

“I presume you mean the design, not the necklace,” said Elias, inclining his head slightly. 

“Well yes _obviously_ it’s a necklace, I mean–better question, why?” 

“The nazar is a protective design traditionally used in amulets to ward off the evil eye. I find it interesting that the eye design is used to protect against the evil eye–I suppose it’s a case of ”if you can’t beat them join them”. Also, eyes are associated with understanding and knowledge, so I thought it seemed a fitting gift.” 

Jon, who was rather too familiar with people complaining about his tendency to infodump about unusual interests, sternly restrained himself from remarking on what a weird string of non-sequiturs this whole interaction was and simply said “Uh, huh, thank you. I mean, it’s not–it isn’t dangerous, working in the archives, is it? I hardly think I’d need protection.” 

“Oh, no, not at all. But you could get hit by a bus on the way to work, and it would frankly just be _too_ inconvenient to have to replace two archivists in one year.” Elias laughed, and Jon, taking the cue, smiled faintly, and clipped the necklace around his neck, planning to drop it in the dustiest corner of his desk drawers when he got home, or maybe donate it. But he never got around to it.

There was something oddly clarifying about wearing it–he felt like his sight was sharper than usual, that he worked faster and made connections more easily, that he was able to find pertinent statements with an ease that he found frankly shocking considering the neglected state of the archives. He took to wearing it almost every day, at first telling himself that he was visibly expressing his gratitude to Elias, then finally admitting that he seemed to like it. 

At some point after the worms he realized he’d stopped taking it off entirely. When he wore it, he felt like he had some protection; as if someone were watching his blind spots. He hoped that wasn’t an indication that he was losing touch with reality, as Tim seemed to think. But it was good to have something to hang on to. Placebo effect, he told himself, running his fingers over the smooth beads. He must be desperate. Well, he’d take whatever help he could get, real or otherwise. And that’s what he thought, until Leitner. 

“This place belongs to one of them,” he only half-asked, silently begging Leitner to say he was wrong, but the old man only gave him a tired look. 

“You know the answer to that.” 

He rubbed the beads pensively, then stopped when he realized what he was doing, fingers twisting the necklace tight like a chain. 

“And I…” 

“You belong to it to,” said Leitner, still with that tired air. And maybe he was right. Maybe he should have realized this long before. But– 

“I need some air,” he said, feeling the weight of the necklace around his throat even after he’d let it go. 

He should take it off. He should _burn_ it. 

He rolled the beads along his fingers, in a gesture that had become familiar and comforting. 

He should take it off. He should really be inside, talking to Leitner, who knew something he didn’t and seemed to think they were short on time. But he should take it off, first. It felt wrong, wearing a symbol of the Eye to–but that was paranoid, surely, he _knew_ he was getting a bit paranoid, he could trust this gift as much as he could trust Elias–ah, _right_. 

Quickly, before he could think about it, before he could convince himself not to, he yanked the necklace from his throat, snapping the thread and turning away from the beads rolling down the alley, trying to convince himself that he felt better for it. 

It was only hours later, pacing and shivering in the darkness outside Georgie’s apartment, trying to come up with some excuse, that he found himself rubbing a small object between his fingers, and realized that he’d kept one of the beads in his hand.

A/N: originally wrote this fic to go with a cosplay I did... which I decided to do as a way to incorporate a necklace design I'd made into a cosplay... because I am t r y i n g to sell them... anyways here's the post with my Jon photos and a bonus Admiral (represented by mine own bastard bitey catboi, in one of his softer moments) 

https://trifoliate-undergrowth.tumblr.com/post/628190555534475264/necklace-photos-and-fic-by-me-check-the-etsy 


End file.
